What being an Employee Ownership Trust means for our team

We’re really proud to share that Hiyield is now 80% employee owned through an Employee Ownership Trust. This isn’t just a legal or structural change – it’s a meaningful shift in how we think about work, success, and the future we’re building together.

At its heart, this is about shared ownership. Every member of the Hiyield team now has a stake in the business. That means a shared responsibility, a shared voice, and shared rewards. Already, we’re feeling a renewed sense of energy, stronger connections, and genuine excitement about what’s ahead.

How our Employee Ownership Trust is structured

Becoming an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) means the business is now majority owned by a trust on behalf of everyone who works here. 

In practice, it means:

• Every employee benefits from the company’s success
• Big decisions are made with the interests of the whole team in mind
• There’s a clear structure to make sure every voice is heard

It’s a model designed for the long term, giving us stability, supporting our values, and helping us grow in a way that always puts people first.

What this means day to day

This isn’t about overnight changes or introducing layers of new processes; it’s about a shift in mindset.

Being employee owned means we all feel more connected to the work we do and the decisions we make. It encourages longer-term thinking, greater openness, and a stronger sense of care in shaping Hiyield’s future. The result? More collaboration, more space for creativity, and better outcomes for our clients.

Whether it’s refining a process, shaping our strategy, or improving how we support each other, Employee Ownership Trust means more voices are part of the conversation.

What our team is saying

“It’s a shift in mindset and how I see myself in Hiyield. It’s a feeling of ownership rather than just ‘I work for Hiyield’. I think we’ll see lots of positive, collaborative changes that reflect the interests of the whole team.”

Elliot Williams, Full Stack Developer 

“Hiyield provides regular opportunities for employees to feed into operations. I’m hopeful Employee Ownership will surface interesting ideas from the team on how we can improve.”
Tom Ayling, UX Designer 

“Now that everyone has a stake in Hiyield’s success, it feels good to grow something collectively. This commitment is encouraging longer-term thinking, more discussion, and collaboration.”
Xan Seymour, Project Manager 

“To me, employee ownership means being part of the consultation process of any major policy change. Plus, receiving dividends as a result of exceeding profit expectations. I think this change will be great for Hiyield because it involves more opinions and allows more voices to be heard.”
Jake Mackie, Apprentice Full Stack Developer 

“Being directly financially incentivised is motivating. Having a say in company operations and benefiting financially from profits is great – it should make people more motivated.”
Callum Holloway, Principal WordPress Developer 

Supporting the team through the transition

We know that meaningful change takes time, which is why we’re bringing everyone along on the journey – creating space for questions, ideas, and feedback.

Our Employee Director, Ben Short, is playing a key role, making sure every perspective is heard.

“Becoming employee owned is a natural step for Hiyield. We’ve always been about collaboration and shared success, and this gives everyone a bigger stake in our future. I’m really proud to be representing the team as employee director – listening to feedback, gathering ideas, and bringing them to the EoT board so we can keep building something brilliant, together.”
Ben Short, co-founder and senior developer 

We’re proud of the culture we’ve built at Hiyield. Becoming an Employee Ownership Trust builds on that foundation – with even more shared purpose, people-first values, and a commitment to growing something brilliant together.

What this means for our clients

You might be wondering how this impacts our clients, partners, and collaborators. The short answer? All good things.

When everyone at Hiyield feels more connected to the business, it shows in our work. There’s more care, more collaboration, and more accountability – and that means every project is shaped by a team deeply invested in delivering the best possible results.

Employee ownership isn’t just great for our team – it’s great for the people we work with too.

Want to know more? Check out the next article in our employee ownership series to find out what it means for our clients.

Curious about what it’s like to work with an employee owned team?

We’d love to chat about how our people-first approach is helping us deliver even better results.

Get in touch.